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Has anyone received a hinky CFE bill this month? I have 16 solar panels and NEVER NEVER have a charge for electricity. This month I got a charge for $400 pesos. HUH? I was told a couple years ago that given my usage and how much I produce that I could go back onto CFE without my panels and not have a bill for a year. Not sure how to deal with this issue.

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Has anyone received a hinky CFE bill this month? I have 16 solar panels and NEVER NEVER have a charge for electricity. This month I got a charge for $400 pesos. HUH? I was told a couple years ago that given my usage and how much I produce that I could go back onto CFE without my panels and not have a bill for a year. Not sure how to deal with this issue.

Even if the numbers are not shown on the bill, doesn't your meter display both numbers (used & sent)? I would check the meter first because actual vs billing may be different.

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You are correct, Tiny. I check my meter readings on a regular basis. Doing so shows me that my panels are still producing the expected power. Should they not be, maybe I simply have to reset the inverter and/or the system.

So far so good as of late. Maybe 8 years ago, the breaker on my panels flipped and I wasn't producing any power, and I didn't catch on until I got a CFE bill showing bad results.

There is also the possibility that the meter reader could make a serious error which could create a problem as well.

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About a year ago I got a CFE bill that showed no output from my solar array. The current and previous readings were the same. Thank goodness I had enough accumulated kWh to cover the deficit. The reading was corrected two months later.

I would hate to have had to go after CFE for a credit resulting from their screwed up meter reading.

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I have taken photos of my meter readings and looking at my bill but I have to admit I have NO idea what I'm looking at. Would someone be willing to call me and explain this bill to me? I just heard on another list that someone's neighbor who has solar and never has an electric charge just got a bill for $3,300 pesos.

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This will help. If you have a solar panel system that is set up as normal where when the panels generate more electricity than you are consuming, it sends the excess electricity back to CFE. And you have a meter reading for that. But at night you will be drawing electricity from CFE and you need a meter for that.

OK houses without solar only draw power from CFE. They draw power that is measured by Kilowatt hour. So for the simple house with no solar you have a meter with 5 numbers that can measure from 1 to 99,999 Kilowatt hours. Typically the electric meter reader comes once every two months and notes the increase in the value of the number shown. Typically a frugal person will use maybe 300 Kilowatt hours or units per billing period while a big spender might use ten times that much.

Now should you have solar panels, where the extra electricity in the sunny day is sent back to CFE you need a second meter to show much extra energy you produce and sell back to CFE.

Guess what? The two new meters for the solar users are combined into one meter, The numbers shown on the left side of this double meter are the units of electricity received from CFE and the set of numbers on the right side of the meter show the amount one sells back to the CFE.

I hope that my explanation makes at least some sense. If not I am sorry.

Oh and just to help to explain what a kilowatt hour is. If you have ten 100 watt light bulbs burning for one hour you have consumed 1000 watts for an hour. or 1000 watts per hour which is one kilowatt hour or for short, one KWH. And your electric company charges you by the number of KWH you consume per billing period

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This will help. If you have a solar panel system that is set up as normal where when the panels generate more electricity than you are consuming, it sends the excess electricity back to CFE. And you have a meter reading for that. But at night you will be drawing electricity from CFE and you need a meter for that.

OK houses without solar only draw power from CFE. They draw power that is measured by Kilowatt hour. So for the simple house with no solar you have a meter with 5 numbers that can measure from 1 to 99,999 Kilowatt hours. Typically the electric meter reader comes once every two months and notes the increase in the value of the number shown. Typically a frugal person will use maybe 300 Kilowatt hours or units per billing period while a big spender might use ten times that much.

Now should you have solar panels, where the extra electricity in the sunny day is sent back to CFE you need a second meter to show much extra energy you produce and sell back to CFE.

Guess what? The two new meters for the solar users are combined into one meter, The numbers shown on the left side of this double meter are the units of electricity received from CFE and the set of numbers on the right side of the meter show the amount one sells back to the CFE.

I hope that my explanation makes at least some sense. If not I am sorry.

Oh and just to help to explain what a kilowatt hour is. If you have ten 100 watt light bulbs burning for one hour you have consumed 1000 watts for an hour. or 1000 watts per hour which is one kilowatt hour or for short, one KWH. And your electric company charges you by the number of KWH you consume per billing period

After that short posting (HAHAHA), what was posted is true if everything is working correctly. HAHAHAHA

My meter displays the information differently. It flashes two numbers with a code. Code 1.8 is what you use. Code 2.8 is what your system sent to CFE.

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Current and last bill. I looked at old bills and the last time I have a back page to a bill it showed 282 kWh credited for that billing period , for a total of 4884 kWh. I have NOT changed any of my usage. I'm attaching the latest bill and the one before.

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Current and last bill. I looked at old bills and the last time I have a back page to a bill it showed 282 kWh credited for that billing period , for a total of 4884 kWh. I have NOT changed any of my usage. I'm attaching the latest bill and the one before.

On the second page of each bill, it is only showing one of history in the graph.. The same period.

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Bisbee Gal is correct, the previous credit amount ("bolsa de energia) was 2532 kWh. Important to remember, the credits work on a 12 month rolling basis; anything older "drops off" - "use it or lose it".

The meter indicators mentioned ( I and II) are the "use from CFE" and the "sent to CFE", respectively, on that type of meter. (there are numerous versions, some have arrows, some have these #'s, and the most recent have the 1.8.0 and 2.8.0 indicators)

Check the meter readings against the CFE bill, best guess is it was mis-read. Take photos and date them ASAP. Likely will need a trip into CFE if they don't appear to be correct. Or, as SunFan did, you can allow the next readings (if correct....) to resolve it.

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Looking at the #'s on the bills again, they don't appear out of range or appear to be in error, so it is possible that some / all of the credits expired since the last bill, and the rest were then used up, and /or that your system is only partially producing. A 16 panel system is on the larger side, residentially, and it would be worth having it checked or checking the monitoring system to verify the solar production / output.

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Looking at the #'s on the bills again, they don't appear out of range or appear to be in error, so it is possible that some / all of the credits expired since the last bill, and the rest were then used up, and /or that your system is only partially producing. A 16 panel system is on the larger side, residentially, and it would be worth having it checked or checking the monitoring system to verify the solar production / output.

He had 2,532 KWH in credits as of mid-Feb (2nd to last bill) after he used 332 KWHs to offset that CFE bill to (essentially) zero. I don't think he ran out of 2532 credits in a single billing period. That timeframe (mid Dec to mid Feb) is the coldest and often the costliest billing period for many of us here. The bill at issue with the $$$ due, is from mid-Feb. to mid-April which is usually a fairly low electric bill here.

Realize it is a 12 month rolling CR, but most of us have about the same accumulated bills over most 12 month periods, yes some higher, some lower, but that 2,532 CR is super-sized.

Maybe OP had a major change or anomaly that occured at his home ?? I.e., he added a swimming pool/hot tub/central a/c and/or heating system. Or he bought two dozen crockpots and opened a 24-7 pozole bar, no waiting 👨‍🍳

Also....OP, do you have access to online solar data via your installer? We have it via Go Solar's company and can query and generate reports of KWHs for past weeks, months, years, specific timeframes, etc. It's a great feature.

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@Bisbee Gal or GoSolar,, can you also assist me in understanding my bill?

The meter I understand: one number represents "what the solar panels are producing" and the other represents "what the home is consuming". The difference between those amounts is what is (hopefully) sent to the grid. But, what does 1.8 represent, and what does 2.8 represent? Which is which?

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The meter I understand: one number represents "what the solar panels are producing" and the other represents "what the home is consuming". The difference between those amounts is what is (hopefully) sent to the grid.

Not quite. Neither of the CFE numbers represent what your panels are producing. (unless your home is totally turned off....then 2.8.0 could show that.)

The 1.8.0 is use from CFE. (For most folks with a well sized solar system, this generally just goes up at night.)

The 2.8.0 is "sent" to CFE, which is NET of what is used in your home, at the time it is being produced. (Can only increase, during the day.)

The difference between the two, is the "net net" amount of use (or credit) from, or with, CFE, for any period of time both are being measured.

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This has been VERY VERY helpful. Looks like I need to go to CFE and ask what happened to the credit that showed on my previous bill. I'm looking back at bills from where I first bought the house 5 years ago and the usage appears to have doubled - If I am reading the bills correctly. So I guess I need to get a really good electrician in to figure out why because I have not changed my use at all. I don't run an AC, I don't run heaters in the winter. My father was one of the "turn that light off if you are not in the room" school, so I a very frugal with lights, etc.

My meter doesn't have the 1.8 and 2.8 numbers. They look like this attached.

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The above photos show the same type of meter I have. I received this meter sometime after my panels were installed in 2008. In those days my panels were rated at only 170 watts per panel. Today, I understand that they are much more efficient and perhaps a little larger in area and are usually rated at or over 250 watts per panel.

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I have one of the newer meters since my panels were installed a year ago last March. I check the meter once a week and currently have 392 kwh stashed as of this morning. I have 5 panels and each is rated at 350 watts per hour in perfect solar conditions. I also have the "enlighten" system installed and can check on the computer daily how much the panels have produced. It makes me grin from ear to ear most days. For this whole month I've been averaging 9 kwh produced per day... and my panels could use a bath. I tracked my usage for a year before putting in solar and it averaged 5.5 kwh per day over the 365 days. My "wish" list (an electric fireplace heater) was added to that amount to estimate the number of panels needed. I was very comfortable all of last winter. I will never regret biting the bullet to do this.

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The above photos show the same type of meter I have. I received this meter sometime after my panels were installed in 2008. In those days my panels were rated at only 170 watts per panel. Today, I understand that they are much more efficient and perhaps a little larger in area and are usually rated at or over 250 watts per panel.

Since you the same meter, does the code of "1" on the right side represent the amount used and the "11" is the amount sent?